Give Tinubu more time to fix economy, APC begs

40% of population enjoys electricity 20 hours, says Adelabu

Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has urged Nigerians to give President Bola Tinubu a little more time to address the economic challenges in the country.

This was as the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, in a statement on yesterday, announced improvements in the country’s electricity supply, revealing that over 40 per cent of Nigerians now enjoy up to 20 hours of power daily.

Oyintiloye, who was a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), said with a little patience, all the challenges Nigerians were passing through would be history.

While speaking with newsmen in Osogbo, yesterday, Oyintiloye acknowledged that Nigerians were passing through a tough time, adding that the President was not sleeping over it but working day and night to fix the economy.

The APC chieftain also appealed to Nigerians to remember that the economic crisis the country was going through was not created by the President but an inherited, age-long economic crisis.

He, however, said all the economic policies that Tinubu was putting in place might look tough but were emplaced to set the country on the path of economic prosperity.

The former lawmaker said Tinubu assumed office when the economy was nose-diving, which required systemic reforms and understanding of Nigerians.

He said while the President was gradually fixing the economy, he needed the patience, prayers and support of all Nigerians to get things done.

ACCORDING to Adelabu, this milestone, achieved within just a year is attributed to various revolutionary measures implemented by his ministry with the backing of Tinubu.

“The major achievement is that today we generate over 5,500 megawatts of power, we transmit and distribute it, and over 40 per cent of customers today enjoy over 20 hours of regular power supply across the nation. You can see that there is a significant improvement between when we came in and now, which we intend to improve further,” he said.

Adelabu noted that the ministry’s initiatives were aligned with Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which aims at enhancing industrialisation through the consistent power supply.

He underscored the critical role of stable electricity in developed nations, linking it to economic success, adding: “This is why we say that we must achieve this for Nigeria as a country.”

He highlighted the ministry’s vision to provide reliable electricity to households, businesses and institutions, thus facilitating job creation and enhancing operational capacity.

Reflecting on the ministry’s progress since the inception of Tinubu’s administration, he explained that the installed generation capacity increased from 13,000 megawatts to over 14,000 megawatts.

He said this was made possible by the addition of new hydroelectric power plants and improvements in existing facilities.

The minister detailed several strategic actions taken to improve the power sector, including the signing of the new Electricity Act of 2023, which decentralised and liberalised the sector.